[FLPERMACULTURE] Interesting tree tidbit

[Joel and Sarah Gagnon]

Fascinating, indeed. Isn't it amazing that something so fundamental wasn't 
discovered long ago?

This finding helps explain the differences in growth from the same genetic 
stock in different latitudes. Northern nurseries, for example, will get 
only a fraction of the annual growth from a given cultivar compared to more 
southern nurseries. It isn't just that the seasons are shorter farther north.

Joel

At 08:32 PM 6/20/08 -0400, you wrote:
>Hi Mike,
>
>Not spam at all.  The report has to be one of the most interesting
>findings about plants in quite a while.  And your questions about
>the understory never occurred to me.  I bet they never occurred to
>the researchers, either.
>
>Jon
>
>Micheal Wheeler wrote:
> > Thanks for the clarification, Jon.  I realized that they weren't being
> > homeostatic at 70 degrees, the quote said that was just the average
> > temperature, but I didn't get the insight about that being the point of
> > greatest activity.  [Kind of like what 'they' say about "dollar cost
> > averaging" when buying mutual funds.  (Ummm, well, not really.) (in
> > fact, maybe the opposite?) ]
> >
> > Rereading my email I see I should have been explicit about why this
> > might be interesting to a permaculture list and not just some well
> > intentioned but misguided spam.
> >
> > For me it is the trees' adaptation responses that pose the most
> > interesting questions.
> >
> >  >>Tree leaves keep cool through constant evaporation and reducing sun
> >  > exposure through leaf angles [wilting] or reflective qualities.
> > Warmth is gained
> >  > by decreasing evaporation and increasing the number of leaves per 
> branch.
> >
> > How will the understory plants be affected?  If a warmer tree is using
> > more water, does that affect what you might want to plant under it?  Is
> > the microclimate humidity more or less stable because of the extra
> > evaporation?  If the number of leaves per branch increases, does the
> > shade also increase?  If the previous late summer was warm when the new
> > leaves were forming, will there be fewer leaves per branch this spring?
> >  How does all this affect the functions of the trees and the forest?
> >  Timber functions?  Fruiting functions?  Water functions?  Is their
> > hypothesis about mechanisms even true?  How would I find out, and at
> > what cost?
> >
> >
> > On Fri, Jun 20, 2008 at 11:28 AM, Jon Bosak <bosak at ibiblio.org
> > <mailto:bosak at ibiblio.org>> wrote:
> >
> >
> >     Not exactly (though it's been widely reported this way).  [snip]
> >     Not to say that this isn't a mighty interesting finding, but it's
> >     not quite what's being reported.  There's a somewhat more careful
> >     summary at
> >
> >        http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/06/080611135100.htm
> >
> >
> >
> > p.s. -- if this still is well intentioned but misguided spam, please let
> > me know off-list.  Mike
> >
> > --
> > "The most common way people give up their power is by thinking they
> > don't have any."
> > --Alice Walker
> >
> >
> > ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> >
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